Rock County land sale at $19,700/acre highest in state

The highest valued farmland sale in Minnesota took place this year in Rock County.
The sale, $19,700 an acre for the unimproved parcel, topped the previous highest sale in Rock County when a similar unimproved Clinton Township parcel sold for $19,000 in 2017.
Auctioneer Randy Buntjer of Ellsworth organized the sale of the 149-acre parcel in Clinton Township for the Esterly Revocable Trust. Total price for the parcel was $2.9 million.
A series of fortunate events coincided for the Aug. 19 sale that set the state record, he said, one being that the parcel is unique to the area.
“You don’t see much farmland come up on the (public auction) market,” Buntjer said.
He said continued high commodity prices, low interest rates and the parcel’s rich soils also combined to increase bids to the final sale price.
The sale for the property three miles east of Hills on Hwy. 270 drew the interest of 80 people who attended the August sale, which is more than the average number at a land sale. Three bidders vied for the property in the 20-minute auction.
Rock County Assessor Rachel Jacobs is anticipating the final recording of the Clinton Township sale coming into her office by the end of the year. The sale may be a factor in determining local farmland market values in 2024.
Jacobs, whose job is to value and assess real estate and personal property sold within the county, tracks real estate and market sales that occur each year from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. The market values are used to determine the county’s tax capacity used by local government entities to determine levy allocations. Increasing market values are tied to property tax increases.
However, not all sales are used to determine taxability within the county.
 
Sales need to be
‘arm’s length’
Jacobs explained the process she’s implemented at her Oct. 4 report to county commissioners.
She said each land and personal property sale is verified by Jacobs or by one of three appraisers in her office.
Only those sales considered “arm’s length” are used in the state’s market assessment process.
“They are a good depiction of the market and that is what an ‘arm’s length’ sale is — none of the parties are related to each other,” she said. “There’s all sorts of rejection reasons.”
Topping the state’s list of 31 possible rejections is the “relative sale,” where family members purchased land or personal property from each other. Often these sales are private and sale prices are under current market values. Jacobs said even in relative sales where the current market price is paid and/or purchased at public auction, the sale is still not considered arm’s length.
The second most common assessment rejection in Rock County is partial interest sales, where one business partner sells his or her interest in a jointly owned parcel.
To be included as a farmland sale, the parcel must be for ag use and be larger than 34.5 acres.